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A. B. CALKINS. STEAM ENGINE INDICATOR.

' No. 427,044. Patente-d May 6. 1890.

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-FFTCEQ ALMON B. CALKINS, OF BRIDGEPORT, CONNECTICUT, ASSIGNOR TO THE i ASHCROFT MANUFACTURING COMPANY,

OF SAME PLACE.

STEAlVI-ENGINE INDlCATOR.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, ALMON B. CALKINS, a citizen of the United States, residing at Bridgeport, in the count-y of Fairfield and State of Connecticut, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Steam-Engine Indicators, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to indicators for recording by means of a diagram the successive pressures in a steam-cylinder during the performance of the strokes of the piston, and an essential to the free operation of such instrument is that the indicator-piston shall move freely in its cylinder, iucurrin g a considerable leakage of steam.

The object of my invention is to make a convenient disposal of the current of steam issuing from the indicator-cylinder by reason of such leakage; and another object is'to reduce the temperature of the escaping steam, thereby lessening the force of the current; and in order to enable others skilled in the art to which my invention appertains to understand and use the same, l will proceed to describe its construction in detail, referring` to the accompanying drawings, in which-d Figure l is an elevation, partly in section, of the cylinder of an indicator,` the diagram or card drum and other parts being removed; Fig. 2, a sectional elevation of Fig. 1; Fig. 3, a horizontal section on the line o3 Qc of Fig. 2; Fig. 1i, a side elevation of 'the interior cylinder of the indicator, and Fig. 5 a'sectional detail view of the external ring.

Similar reference letters indicate corresponding parts throughout.

ln the types of indicators heretofore used the outlet-holes have been located in a stationary part of the instrument or in a part that must be released by means of screws or otherwise, in order to change the position of the holes, a manipulation which is inconvenient, especially when there is a limited space to operate in.

My invention consists, essentially, of a rotary ring A, tted to the exterior of the indicator-cylinder case B, into the interior b of which ring the escaping steam is admitted and is directed through the outlets a in any desired direction by simply turning the ring A.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent Application led August 5, 1889.

No. 427,044, dated May 6, 1890.

Serial No. 319,812. (No model.)

The cylinder-case B is supported in the lower case B, being screwed therein, and beneath its margins the shoulder c of the cylinder proper D is clamped, holding all the stationary parts in proper relative position.

The indicator-piston E is fitted loosely in the cylinder D, and the exterior of the latter is smaller than the interior of the cylindric case B, and is provided with longitudinal ribs h to fit the case, leaving grooves h between them for the free downward passage of the escaping,` steam from the chamber c above the piston.

g g are outlet-s establishing communication between the escape-grooves h and the interior of the ring A, so that such grooves as lie opposite the holes g may educt the steam from the chamber 'L' below the termination of the ribs h or directly from the chamber c in part.

he ring A is composed of thin metal, and is retained eudwise between the shoulder of the case B B thereon, so as to revolve freely to any point of adjustment.

In operation,the steam entering the pipe f in the direction of the arrow operates against the bottom of the piston E. The proportion of steam that escapes around the piston yinto the chamber e passes through the grooves 7L', outlets g, chamber b of the ring, and outlets a with sufficient freedom to prevent backpressure in the chamber e.

The ring A being very thin and susceptible to the temperature of the atmosphere, is very much cooler than the interior chamber at c, and in consequence acts as a condensing agent upon the outgoing` steam, thereby reducing its temperature, pressure, and velocity.

Having thus fully described my invention, what l claim, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

l. The combination, with the piston-cylinder of a steam-engine indicator, of a rotary adjustable exhaust ring surrounding the same, having outlets in its periphery that communicate interiorly with the exhausted side of the indicator-piston, for the purposes set forth.

2. The combination, with the pistoncylin IOO Within the ring eonimunioatingq with the exoutlets in the cylindrio oase opposite a part of 1o ,1' e 1e '11" t r- )i `on an( ou'- 1e meiner o saic cianne s an( z al haustedsd of tl 1 dlcato 1st l t tl b s f l l 1, l ich n lets to said chamber located upon one side of bered rotary ring surrounding said outlets the periphery of the ring. bearing the final outlets in adjustable posi- 5 3. In a steam-engine indicator, the eolnbitions, substantially as described.

nation 0f a piston-cylinder, bearing longitudi- ALMON B. CALKINS.

nal ribs on its exterior extending' a part of its qWitnesses:

length, a concentric cylinder ease Within ROBERT S. VATSON,

which said Cylinder-ribs tit to form channels, CHAS. V. FORBES. 

